There's been a lot of confusion about what's involved in health care reform, and even more confusion about who is supporting what. At AARP, our core goal remains the same. We are fighting for our members today, just as we've fought for them for the last 50 years. Today, that means we're fighting to protect the Medicare benefits you’ve earned. To guarantee that you’ll never be denied coverage because of your health or age. To prevent anyone from coming between you and your doctor. And to make sure patients don’t take a backseat to insurance companies.
More specifically, AARP is fighting to:
Protect Medicare Benefits.Medicare is a sacred promise that was made to seniors – because no one should be left to struggle with medical bills after a lifetime of hard work. We must protect the Medicare benefits seniors have earned and strengthen the program for future generations. We’re also working to fill in gaps in today’s benefit package, such as closing the Part D prescription drug coverage gap (the so-called “doughnut hole.”) and eliminate out-of-pocket costs for important preventive care like cancer screenings and diabetes tests.
Eliminate Waste: We must reduce waste in Medicare so we can ensure today’s seniors continue to get the benefits they’ve been promised. Currently, Medicare hands out billions in subsidies to private insurance companies. These are tax dollars that should be going to seniors’ care not insurance company subsidies. By eliminating this waste, we can protect senior benefits and fill in some of the gaps in Medicare.
Preserve Your Choice of Doctor: AARP is fighting to ensure doctors get paid fairly so seniors will have the freedom to choose the doctors they need. Without health reform, Medicare doctors will be forced to take a 21 percent pay cut.
Protect Your Right to Make Medical Decisions: AARP is fighting to ensure that all health decisions are made by you and your doctor, not your insurance company or the government. No matter what your age, your care should be your choice.
Prevent Discrimination. Health reform must end insurance abuses, such as denials of coverage due to a person’s health history, or using age as an excuse to charge sky-high premiums. Such discrimination has become a serious problem for Americans age 50-plus who need insurance, and AARP is fighting to make sure needed protections are in a final health reform plan.
Protect Consumers: AARP is fighting to stop the high prices charged by drug companies by: enabling drug price negotiation; allowing safe, legal importation of lower-priced prescription drugs from abroad; and permitting the sale of generic versions of biologic drugs – costly medications for diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis.
AARP will continue to scrutinize health reform proposals, to determine whether they make sense for our members and their families. We are watching this process closely and will continue to work to make sure all Americans have the health coverage they need.
AARP Georgia's 2010 Legislative Priorities
